1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to tools used in the art of hair dressing. More particularly, it relates to a motorized teasing comb built of materials that inhibit generation of static charges as hair is being teased.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair teasing is a well-known method of hair styling that is performed with a comb designed especially for that purpose. The service provider manually oscillates the comb over a range of a couple of inches or so in a well-known way to achieve the desired teasing effect.
A number of patents have been awarded on motor-operated teasing combs, but the art remains underdeveloped. For example, the known teasing combs are made of materials that accumulate static charges during the teasing process. The discharges can provide minor but unwanted irritating shocks to the customer or the service provider or both. More importantly, the static build-up can interfere with the combing process itself because the static charge causes hair strands to cling together or to the comb, or both, thereby preventing the hair from being easily combed.
Moreover, most of the known motorized teasing combs have remote motors and thus require an electrical power cord that extends from the remote motor to the comb.
Some of the known combs produce an arcuate path of travel for the comb, which detracts from the suitability of such combs as teasing combs. The known combs that provide a straight back-and-forth motion, i.e., with no arcuate motion, do so by employing relatively complex mechanisms.
What is needed, then, is a motorized teasing comb having a very lightweight motor within the comb body and a simple, inexpensive and reliable means for effecting the required reciprocating motion of the comb. A need also exists for a teasing comb made of materials that inhibit the build-up of static charges during the combing process.
However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art how the needed improvements could be provided.